Union move to abandon its workers' utopia hits a squall

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Hideaway in peril from left, Mary Johnsen, of the National
Parks Association, Lynne Czinner and Shane Withington at the
Currawong beach.Photo: Paul Miller

A storm is brewing again in idyllic Pittwater over the future of
one of the waterway's most popular parcels of land.

A decision by Unions NSW to sell the historic workers' holiday
camp Currawong has outraged northern beaches residents, union
members and environmental groups.

Friends of Currawong, the organisation that fought the attempted
sale of the site seven years ago, has joined forces with Pittwater
Council and the National Parks Association to save the low-cost
retreat.

Unions NSW this month called for expressions of interest in the
23 hectare property, which comprises nine fibro cabins, one
homestead and a conference centre. The waterfront property is
valued at between $8 million and $15 million.

The land was bought in 1949 to celebrate the creation of the
40-hour week and to provide a subsidised holiday destination for
its members.

"For the last 50 years it's served it's purpose - having
working-class kids and mums and dads being able to afford a holiday
in one of the most beautiful places in NSW," said Shane Withington,
co-convener of Friends of Currawong.

"We're scared that some multimillionaires will move in, stick
half a dozen luxury houses on it and the workers of Australia will
be excluded from a site they have had possession of for half a
century."

If Currawong could not be preserved the property should be
incorporated into Ku-ring-gai National Park or sold at a reduced
price to a union-affiliated organisation, he said.

Unions NSW's argument that the property had to be sold to pay
for the campaign against the Federal Government's workplace
overhaul was unfounded. Funds had already been garnered from
individual unions, he said.

The Mayor of Pittwater Council, Lynne Czinner, said the site,
which is bounded by steep sandstone cliffs, was not suited to large
development.

This is the second time in seven years the unions' peak body has
tried to sell Currawong. In 1999 the then secretary, Michael Costa,
tried to negotiate a 99-year lease with the transcendental
mediation group Maharishi TM Incorporated. The deal fell through
after the company failed to meet a development deadline.